John Bell (British, 1812-1895)

THE EAGLE SLAYER

Details

John Bell (British, 1812-1895)
The Eagle Slayer
signed and inscribed as titled 'THE EAGLE SLAYER JOHN BELL SC.'
20in. (248.9cm) high; 50in. (127cm.) long; 27in. (68.6cm.) wide, marble

Provenance

Purchased or commissioned by the 5th Earl Fitzwilliam (1786-1857), Wentworth Woodhouse, Rotherham, Yorkshire
Thence by descent until sold Christie's London, 15 July 1986, lot 95
The Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Collection, sold Sotheby's New York, 26 May 1994, lot 71

Literature

R. Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660-1851, London, p. 49
B. Read, Victorian Sculpture, New Haven, 1982, pp. 27-29 (illustration of another version in metal)
C. Avery and M. Marsh, 'The Bronze Statuettes of the Art Union of London, The Rise and Decline of Victorian taste in Sculpture', Apollo, London, May, 1985, pp. 331-332, no. 279 (illustration of a bronze version)

Lot Essay

Bell enrolled at the Royal Academy schools and won a medal there in 1833. He was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy from 1832 to 1871 and is known to have worked on the ornamental sculpture of the Wellington monument in Guildhall. His bronze version of The Eagle Slayer was one of the first bronze reductions to be offered by the Art Union in 1845. The Eagle Slayer was so popular that a full-size figure was shown at the Great Exhibition of 1844 and again in 1851.